Birch with mouse ears

I saw it today! The first little sign of green color on the birch branches. The grey and dusty landscape is transforming to a light green carpet. I think it's a bit early because I haven't even got time to long for it. We haven't even put away our winter clothes so the hall is filled with clothes and all kind of shoes.

The wood anemone in my garden is ready for summer and I hope that it will survive even if there will be some cold nights i May.

May - amazing that it's already May on Sunday

 Maybe summer.....

Cousines

It's fascinating that there are so much happening in nature these days. If you're quiet you can sit and watch it all, and if you're lucky you can do it close to your big cousin while you sit in his lap. 

 It's been a wonderful week with our parents, siblings and nieces visiting us and we have been outside most of the time with many meals cooked on the fire. 

Even if there's still ice on the lake we almost thought it was summer today as the temperature was about + 20 °C. It's hard to understand that we brought skis with us for this week! 

On line in the Wilderness

Enjoying my birthday a sunny tranquil morning at the beach, just listening to birds chirping around me.

Wishing my camera could catch the Cranes far away.

Sending a regard to Bill in Gowganda.

Too warm for snow mobile and skiing....

Still a child and the Queen of pond building when it's spring.

Wish you a creative happy Easter

Our Easter Holliday will start after tomorrow. Well, the truth is that it begins when we get in our full packed car tomorrow afternoon and drive to the lake house. We all look forward to this but the youngest told me this evening that she won't cope with school tomorrow, just because she long so much for this Easter Holliday. 

We have many traditions associated with Easter both official and our own family habits. The children have always been creative with painting and crafting when we get to our cottage. Last year the youngest took photos of all our Easter ornamentals and made a kind of Fairy Tale on my computer using Power Point. 

I think this couple were the leading characters in the story that included small chickens, Ester eggs and candy. Finally I helped her to record her voice  when she read the text. She was very proud when she showed us what she had done.

Happy Easter!

A week with books

My  dear blog friend Jill writes about reading books in her latest post and I have been reading this book recently and planed to write about it and now I got the inspiration thanks to Jill. When I select a book in English at the library I have to check  the language, so it won't be to difficult to understand. The book can be really good but if I have to look for the translation for too many I lose interest. The Tea House on Mulberry  Street was just perfect for me. I did check some words in the beginning but after a while I understood the most and I really loved both the funny, hilarious and romantic parts.

When I was going to the library to return the book my oldest daughter also wanted to read an English book and asked me to get one. But that wasn't easy, so I borrowed seven, so she could have some alternative. I also took The Tea House book again so she could have that if she wanted. She was pleased and started immediately read one of them.

I must confess that I also read books while I'm working and I get paid for it! What a wonderful job I have!  But when I work I usually read books that I can recommend to my students later. My class loves to read and when we sit and read our books it's totally quiet. This week we're reading more than usual as it is the book week. It's the great Final on Friday when all classes will sing together and everybody will be costumed like famous literary characters. Maybe I will be Pippi Longstocking.

A walk along the river

This walk was like a retreat, searching for good signs of that the winter is leaving and that the spring also has something for me to appreciate. 

Like the birds singing

the rippling water

block of ice flowing like islands

on the river

the sunbeams glittering

on the dark blue water

and finally 

the discovery of the

first little green plant in my garden

Proud Capercaillie

Here's the mysterious track maker that I wrote about in the last post. Not exactly this one but a similar. Unfortunately I didn't see the right one when he made his show to attract some female examples because that is a fantastic experience of the nature. Usually in the early morning.

I really love this photo and wish that I had taken it, but I found it on the net. But I am proud when I tell you that I had the courage to wrote to the professional photographer Lars Peterson and asked if I could use one of his photos. He was very kind and gave me a quick answer that it was ok. He also told me that I was right when I thought the tracks was made from the wings of a capercaillie.

 (Capercaillie... What a wonderful word, much more beautiful than the Swedish word: tjäder)

Mysterious track

It's been gray and rainy today and the snow gets awfully dirty. I know, I know cause everybody tells me that's good because than the snow will vanish faster...... My reasonable me understands that, but my emotional me is crying. But, I have gone through these tough weeks before and I know that I also will manage it this year.

I think I'm gonna have some kind of mental "Spring Thanks Giving", because there's so much in my life that I appreciate.

Instead of showing you something grey and rainy I prefer to have a white sunny photo on top of this text. It's from the ski trip last Wednesday when my students and I found these mysterious tracks on the snow. They couldn't understand what it was, can you?